A Woman’s Choice, by Katie Benson

“A Woman’s Choice” is a short choice-based game describing a woman’s decision about whether or not to have children, explored through vignettes in her life.

Gameplay: The major choice in the game is deciding which plotline about the narrator’s decision about having children to play thorugh; beyond that, the decision points simply move on to the next scene. Unfortunately, the important social issues raised in the game are undercut by the flatness of its characters and the ham-fistedness of its scenarios and dialogue (e.g., “[G]irls just aren’t made to be scientists, or mathematicians, or engineers. Our brains aren’t suited to it, you know?”) The game has little interactivity and no depth or subtlety, making it difficult to treat its message with the gravity it deserves. 3/10.

Mechanics: There are a few divergent paths in the game, but there’s little for the player to do in any of them, and they all effectively turn out the same way. 4/10.

Presentation: The prose and characters are deliberately focused narrowly on the game’s subject, but that ultimately makes them much less compelling and memorable. 3/10.

You might be interested in this game if: You identify with the protagonist and want to see how her story unfolds.